Gentlemen - This is my first post, but I suspect some of you may know me as I certainly recognise some names from other fora.
k9kiwi posted the following extracts fro Wallace Clark's books on RAF armament:
Identification of 7.7 mm (0.303 in) ammunition used in the Browning and Vickers K.
Service ammunition is identified in several ways, viz:
1. Labels on the container; 2. A code stamped on the base of the cartridge case; 3. Coloured dye on the annulus of the round (centre of the base); and 4. Colouring of the bullet tip (1939-1945)
The base marking gives the main details. These consist of: A. Code initials of manufacturer; B. Year of manufacture; C. Type of propellent (usually only Z for nitrocellulose); D. Mark of cartridge; and E. Type of bullet. The annulus colour code is found in the centre of the base, and signifies the following: Black: Ball until 1918; Purple: Ball after 1918; Blue: Incendiary: Orange: Explosive, including PSA; Red: Tracer.
During the 1939-45 war, station armourers needed a more instant way of identifying special ammunition. The method adopted was to colour the tips of the bullets, the code being as follows: Blue tip: some marks of incendiary; White tip: air-to-air short-range day tracer; Grey tip: air-to-air short-range night tracer; Black tip: observation bullet; No colour: ball.
Head Stamps
Each manufacturer was given a code to be used on the head stamp on the base of the round. The main makers were: BE - ROF Blackpole (1939-45), CP - Crompton Parkinson, E - Eley, FN - Fabrique Nationale, K - Kynock (ICI) - at various factories (K2, K3, K4 K5), RG - ROF Radway Green, RL and RG - Royal Laboratory Woolich, RW - Rudge Whitworth, SR - ROF Spennymore. Bullet types were also shown on the head stamps, as: AA - PSA or Pomeroy, B - Buckingham explosive, F - semi-armour piercing, G -SPG tracer, K - Brock incendiary, R - Explosive from 1918, T or G - Tracer, W - armour-piercing, Z - Nitrocellulose propellent after 1917. Ball ammunition was stamped VII with no letter.
Whilst excellent on his subject, like many authors the details of ammunition seem to taken a second place. That list mixes First and Second War manufacturers and codes. For example, Eley (E) and Rudge Whitworth (RW) only ever manufactured ammunition to 1918 and FN never made ammunition for British service until the Grenade Blank H Mark 7 in 1950.
Also, the "A.A." code was only used briefly at the end of WWI and the "O" code for Observation was never an Air Service store, it was purely intended for Land Service training by Vickers gunners. I could go on, but in fact the whole list is a mismash of incorrect information with respect to Browning guns in WW2.
My final point is an admittedly personal one. I do not like the metrification of things that were originally in Imperial measurements. There is nothing wrong with using the metric system today, but the British service cartridge was the .303 inch, it was not the 7.7mm. That was used by the Japanese and Italians. Similar comments apply to the .50 Browning, in WW2 it was not the 12.7mm.
I would be happy to post photographs of all the actual rounds that were used in RAF Brownings should any members be interested.
Regards
TonyE